Lifting jack



G. TUCKER LIFTING- JACK Filed April 10. 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet l June 2, 1925. I 1,539,974

G. ER Y LIFTING JACK a M .9 A5

JyZz'afiZZOTneys Patented June 2, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

'eonnon woman, or unmmous, mimso'ra.

1.1mm; on

Application filed April 10, 1922. Serial No. 551,126.

-make and use the same.

My invention provides an improved lifting jack adapted for permanent application to an axle of an automobile, truck or other motor-propelled vehicle. and generally stated, the invention consists of the novel construction and combinations of parts hereinafter described and defined in the. claims.

As an important feature of my invention, the jack is applied to the central portion of the axle so that it will act to simultaneously lift two wheels. Also, the jack is. of such nature that when folded it will occupy but very short vertical dimensions. These jacks may be applied to either one or both of the axles of the vehicle and they may be operated either manually or by motive power. They are of such nature that when operated to lift the machine, they form a lateral truss and have such lateral stability and ground engagement that they will prevent the raised end of the machine from tipping to the one side or the other and, hence, will positively hold both of the raised wheels clear and above the ground.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate the invention, in its preferred form, like characters indicate like parts throughout the several views.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation with some parts broken away, showing one of the lifting jacks applied to the front axle of an automobile;

Fig. 2 shows the jack partly in'front-elevation and partly in section;

Fig. 3 is a transverse section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view showing one means of attaching the jack to the rear axle casing of the automobile;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary bottom plan view, with some parts broken away, showing gear connections for operating the jack screw;

Fig. 6 is ajragmentary elevation showing the ground-engaging foot bar of the jack provided with castor wheels; and

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary plan view showng an electric motor applied to operate the ack screw.

Referring first to the construction illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the numeral 8 indicates, as'an entirety, a commercial automobile, to the front axle of which one of my improved acks is applied. This jack, as preferably designed, comprises as follows: The numeral 9 indicates a head 'de in the form of a channeled bar or efiii ated box provided in its bottom with a long slot 10 and rail-forming flanges-11 adjacent to the sides of said slot. The numeral 12 indlcates an operating screw shaft that is held against endwise movements but journaled in the heads or end flanges of the guide 9 and from 1ts central point is provided with right and left threads 12? and 12. At its outer ends, the operating screw 12 is shown as provided with notched clutch collars or heads 13, towhich an operating wrench 14 of the crank-operated or brace type may be applied, at will. Slidable within the rectangular opening in the head guide 9 is a pair of nut blocks 15 through which the right and left threads of the operating screw 12 work with threaded engagement. These nut blocks 15 have short outstanding trunnions 15 on which are journaled small disklike rollers or anti-friction wheels 16 that run against the top and on the rail flanges 11 of the head guide.

The numeral 17 indicates a pair of transversely crossed levers intermediately pivoted at 18. Each of these levers 17 is shown as made up of a pair of parallel laterall spaced strap-like members, the upper end: of which are journaled on the trunnions 15 of the respective nut blocks 15 and are located between the latter and the co-operating wheels 16. At their lower ends, the members of the duplex lever 17 are provided with short spindles 19, on the ends of which are journaled disk-like rollers or anti-frictween the bottom of said bearing foot and the rail "flanges 22. The numeral 23 indicates a short centering link that is pivoted at its upper end to one of the levers 17 and at its lower end to a lug 24 located on the bottom and at the center of the bearing foot 21. This link 23 bears a parallel relation to the lower end of the lever 17 to which it is not pivoted. Moreover, it is important to note that the lower pivot of said link 21 is vertically below the axis of the lever pivot 18, while the upper pivot of said link is in a line that intersects the axis of the pivot 18 and the axes of the left-hand wheels 20.

Moreover, said link 23 and lug 2a are located in a vertical plane that isbetween the laterally spaced members of the two pivotally connected levers 17, so that the said levers can fold together into the box-like foot 21, thereby permitting said foot member to be moved vertically upward into flat wise engagement with the bottom of the head guide 9, as indicated by dotted lines in Fi 2.

C lhe lifting'jack applied to the rear axle is of the same construction as that just described as applied to the front axle, but preferably, the operating screw shaft 12, at least one end, is connected by a pair of miter gears 25 to a clutch head 26 extended .rearwardly so that it may be reached by the wrench 14 applied from the rear end of the machine. As shown, the clutch head 26 and one of the miter gears is supported by a bracket 27 secured to the end of the head guide 9, as shown in Figs. 1 and 5.

The head guide 9 of the rear jack may be secured to the rear axle casing and other suitable parts of the running gear in various different ways, but, as shown, it is anchored by clamping straps 28- attached thereto and applied around the rear axle casing 8, as shown in Fig. 4, with the central top portion of said guide 8 bearing against the under side of the forwardly projecting sleeve of said casing.

For certain purposes, such as facilitating the parking of the machine in a garage, the bearing foot 21 of the rear jack may be provided with castor wheels 29 swiveled to lugs 30 on the ends of said head guide 9, as shown in Fig. 6.

'In the modified arrangement shown in Fig. 7 the numeral 31 indicates a small electric motor, the armature shaft of which is connected to the operating screw shaft 12, and the motor casing of which is anchored to the head guide 9 by tie-straps 32.

Normally, of course, the foot bars 21 of the two jacks will be rested against the head guides or bars 9, so that they will not interfere with the normal road clearance of the machine. Of course, they are always in position, ready for use. When the operating screw shaft 12 is rotated in a direction to cause the nut blocks 15 to move toward each other, the levers 17 will be opened with a scissor-like action, thereby forcing the foot bar 21 downward while holding the same always horizontal or parallel to the head guide or bar. The link 23, as already noted,

keeps the foot bar centered in respect to the levers and head guide. Obviously, the jack is self-locking in any position in which it may be set, because of the frictional action between the nut blocks and threads of the screw shaft 12. The central location of the jacks and their arrangement for lateral stabilily makes each jack capable of simultane ously lifting two wheels. An important feature of the jack is that, in closing, it has no parts that are extended either upward or above the head guide or downward below the foot bar, and this adapts the jack to be applied to automobiles where there is little vertical waste space for the application thereof. The jacks described are very strong and durable and, moreover, are of comparatively small cost and may be readily applied to any ordinary automobile, auto truck or other motor-propelled vehicle. It might even be applied to trucks not motor propelled, but their main use will be in connection with motonpropelled vehicles which have pneumatic tires requiring removal for repairs when punctured. Of course, all the annoyance of positioning and removing the jacks is eliminated, since the jacks are always in position for use and require only to be operated.

These jacks will also be found very service-able for use in getting a motor vehicle, and especially the rear wheels thereof, out of deep chuck holes and the like, which are so deep that the wheels must be raised before the machine can be moved. When the wheels of an automobile, for example, sink into deep rats or chuck holes, it is usually impossible to apply the ordinary jack until the wheel has been partly raised or until a hole is dug in which the jack can be set. With the permanently applied jacks, the machine can never settle further than ermitted by the jack, the foot bar of whic is always in positionto be moved downwaru into contact with the round for the purpose of lifting the mac ine.

What I claim is:

1. The combination with an auto axle, of a pair of transversely crossed intermediately pivoted levers connected to said axle at their upper ends for vertical movements therewith but movable longitudinally of said axle, said levers at their lower ends having applied thereto movable rollers, and means applied to said levers for imparting relative angular movement thereto to raise and lower said axle.

2. The combination with an auto axle, of a single pair of levers pivotally connected at their central portions, movable supports at both ends of said levers, and means for moving the opposite ends of said levers toward and from each other respectively in substantially vertical plane to raise and lower the axle.

3. The structure defined in claim 1 in which there is a supporting bar slidably connected to the lower ends of said levers, said bar at its opposite ends having groundengaging means.

41. A lifting jack comprising a head guide bar adapted to be connected to an auto axle, a foot bar, a pair of transversely crossed intermediately pivoted levers, the upper ends of which are guided by said head bar and the lower ends of which are guided by said foot bar, means applied to said levers for imparting relative angular movement thereto, and a centering link pivotally connected to said foot bar and to one of said levers and having a parallel relation to the other lever.

5. In combination with an auto axle, a. single pair of levers pivotally connected near their central parts, movable supports directly connected at the ends of both of said levers and means for moving the opposite ends of said levers towards each other respectively in a substantially vertical plane to raise the axle.

6. In combination with an auto axle, a pair of levers, connected near their central part to each other, having a movable support directly connected at their upper end,

road-engaging means at their lower end, and means for moving the upper ends of the levers towards each other to raise the axle, said levers being movable in a vertical plane parallel to the axle.

7. In combination with an auto axle, a lifting jack adapted to be carried thereby and comprising supporting means, levers carried thereby pivotally connected near their central parts and normally lying in extended position substantially parallel to said axle, means for moving said levers about their pivotal connection whereby they turn in a vertical plane to bring the upper ends towards each other, and roller means carried by the other ends of said levers.

8. In combination with an auto axle, a cooperating channel bar secured thereto in a position substantially parallel therewith, a second channel bar adapted to cooperate with the first channel bar to form a housing, and power transmitting means within the upper channel bar and connected with the lower channel bar and adapted to cause a positive separation of the bars when actuated to vertically raise the axle to which the device is attached, said power transmitting means comprising a single pair of levers pivotally connected near their central parts and a threaded device co-acting with the upper ends of said levers and the upper bar to cause a relative movement of the levers towards each other, thereby to separate the two channel bars.

9. In combination with an auto axle, a cooperating channel bar secured thereto in a position substantially parallel therewith, a

second channel bar adapted to cooperate' with the first channel bar to form a housing, and power transmitting means within the upper'channel bar and connected with the lower channel bar and adapted to cause a positive separation of the bars when actuated to vertically raise the axle to which the device is attached, said power transmitting means comprising a pair of levers pivotally connected near their central parts and a threaded device co-acting with the upper ends of said levers and the upper bar to cause a relative movement of the levers towards each other, thereby to separate the two channel bars said levers having a roll enga ement with the lower channel bar.

in g

In testimon whereof I afiix m signature.

GORDON TUCKER. 

